Experience America. Elevate Your Future.

Many hosts arrange furnished housing for their trainees and interns — on the property or nearby — and deduct the weekly cost from your training stipend. No lease to sign, and in most cases no housing money needed when you arrive.

The exact arrangement and weekly cost are stated per opportunity, in writing, in your offer letter — before you accept.

Some hosts do not provide housing. There, you rent your own apartment and sign your own lease — which means money is needed up front: a security deposit, application fees, renter's insurance and utilities, on top of rent.

CTI walks you through the lease and introduces you to other participants going to the same host, so you can share and split the cost. Whether housing is provided is stated per opportunity before you accept — it is never a surprise.

Where you arrange your own housing, budget for a shared, furnished room — that is how nearly all participants live, and it is far cheaper than renting alone. Rough planning ranges by market:

Arrival funds cover roughly one month of housing, deposit exposure, and food, phone and transport for your first two weeks — before your first stipend payment arrives.

These are planning estimates from national rental data, not quoted prices — updated August 2026. Your CTI sourcing associate goes through your exact housing, costs and arrival budget with you, in writing, before you commit to anything.

Where you arrange your own housing, add the up-front rental costs above. Property-specific arrival costs are set out in your offer letter before departure.

Your fee covers BridgeUSA visa sponsorship, your DS-2019, your training plan, the SEVIS fee ($220), embassy visa processing ($185), and medical insurance for the full programme.

You receive a training stipend for every hour of your training placement, at or above the U.S. federal or state minimum wage — whichever is higher for your location. The actual rate is stated per opportunity in your offer letter, and it is paid on the host's normal pay cycle.

• Not H-2B
• Not EB-3
• Not a MOLISA channel
• Not a DOLAB channel
• Not MyFutureJobs
• Not a migrant-worker programme
• Not permanent migration

BridgeUSA is the exchange visitor programme of the U.S. Department of State. Its purpose is cultural exchange: people early in a career spend a fixed period learning inside an American operation, under a training plan agreed in writing before departure. Your placement is governed by a Form DS-7002 Training/Internship Placement Plan issued alongside your Form DS-2019.

The programme is built around your return. At the end of the twelve months you go home, and what you learned goes with you.

A visa decision is made only by a U.S. consular officer, under U.S. law. No sourcing partner, sponsor or host company can promise you a visa. Participants may be subject to the two-year home-country physical presence requirement under INA 212(e).

You must meet every one of these independently. CTI cannot waive any of them.

• You are currently enrolled at a post-secondary institution, or you graduated within the last 12 months
• You speak excellent English — you will be screened on this
• Your passport is valid for at least six months beyond your departure date
• You can fund your own international airfare
• You intend to return to your home country at the end of the twelve months
• You can attend an interview — online, at a CTI office, or at a Selection Day

Experience requirements vary by position. Many roles need no prior experience; some culinary roles require formal culinary education and at least one year of experience. This is stated per position.

1. Register onlineFree, and it takes a few minutes. The form on this page goes directly to CTI.
2. CTI pre-qualifies you onlineWe check your eligibility and screen your English before anything is scheduled.
3. You receive a written invitationIt states your interview time and the mode — online, at a CTI office, or in person at a Selection Day.
4. Only then do you make travel arrangementsAnd only if your written invitation says in person.
5. Interview with the host companyCTI arranges it. An interview is not an offer, not a visa, and not a guarantee of placement.

No. It is a training placement on a cultural exchange programme administered by the U.S. Department of State. You are a trainee, not an employee; you train under a written DS-7002 training plan; and the programme ends after twelve months, at which point you return home. You do receive a training stipend for every hour of your placement.

No — and anyone who tells you otherwise is misleading you. J-1 is not an immigration pathway. Participants may also be subject to the two-year home-country physical presence requirement under INA 212(e), which means returning home for two years before certain other U.S. visas become available, unless the U.S. Department of State grants a waiver.

No one can promise that. A visa decision is made only by a U.S. consular officer under U.S. law. CTI is not the sponsor and does not issue visas. What CTI can do is prepare your application properly, arrange your interview with the host company, and make sure your documentation is complete and accurate.

The CTI programme fee is $4,950 for an Intern placement and $5,225 for a Trainee placement in Thailand, and $5,250 (Intern) or $5,500 (Trainee) in Vietnam. That covers your BridgeUSA sponsorship, DS-2019, training plan, the SEVIS fee, embassy visa processing and medical insurance for the full programme. On top of that you fund your own international airfare, your housing where the host does not provide it, and your own living costs.

The full breakdown is under Every cost, itemised. Payment timing is set out in your agreement before you commit — and you will never be asked for a payment that is not on that list.

Yes. Your English is screened as part of pre-qualification, in accordance with 22 CFR 62.22(d)(1), and the whole programme is conducted in English. This is not a formality — your training happens in a fast American operation and you need to be able to follow it. If your English is not there yet, keep studying and apply when it is.

It depends on whether you are eligible for the J-1 Internship or the J-1 Trainee programme.

Internship. No previous experience is required. However, you must meet the J-1 Internship eligibility requirements, and your field of study must be relevant to the placement.

Trainee. Previous relevant experience is required. You must meet one of the following:

• Hold a degree or professional certificate from a foreign post-secondary institution and have at least one year of relevant experience outside the United States. Your field of study must be relevant to the placement; or
• Have at least five years of relevant experience outside the United States, if you do not have a degree or your education is not relevant to the placement.

Yes. You may apply for the J-1 Internship programme if you meet one of the following:

• You are currently enrolled at a post-secondary institution outside the United States, have completed at least your first semester, and your field of study is relevant to the placement; or
• You graduated from a post-secondary academic institution outside the United States no more than 12 months before the programme start date, and your field of study is relevant to the placement.

It depends on the host. Some arrange housing for you and take the cost from your training stipend, so nothing is needed on arrival. Others require you to rent your own apartment and sign your own lease, which means a security deposit, application fees, insurance and utilities up front. This is stated for your specific position before you accept it.

In every case you need enough money to live on between landing and your first stipend payment, because pay runs on the host's normal cycle.

You can tell us where you would prefer to be, and section 02 above shows where positions are currently open. What actually decides it is which host has an opening that matches your background, your English and your availability — and whether they select you at interview. Being flexible about location meaningfully improves your chances.

Usually not. In-person Selection Days happen only a few times a year; everything else is interviewed online or at a CTI office, all year round. Tell us your situation when you register and CTI decides the mode — it is not something you select. Never travel to an interview without a confirmed written invitation from CTI.

Fair question, and you should ask it of every offer you receive — including this one. Things worth checking on any offer:

• The DOS-designated sponsor is named, and you can verify it is currently designated at j1visa.state.gov/sponsors
• Every fee is written down and itemised before you pay anything
• The host company is named to you in writing before you commit
• Nobody promises you a visa, a job, or permanent residence
• You are never asked for a payment that is not on the published list

If any of those is missing, walk away — whoever you are talking to, and whatever name they are using.

You return to your home country. The programme is designed around your return: the point is that you bring the training, the service standard and the experience back with you. Graduates typically return significantly more employable than when they left.